Hundreds of west Cumbrian residents have been left steaming after their kettles began to pop like ‘popcorn’.

Over the past few weeks, people across the area have been stewing over their tap water, which has being smelling odd and leaving a scum on their cups of tea.

The issue reached boiling point on social media yesterday after people began posting about their problems, with many having bought new kettles.

However, United Utilities say the water is “absolutely safe” and occurred due to them blending soft water from Ennerdale Water with harder water from boreholes in Egremont.

The water supplies properties in Workington, Whitehaven, Distington, Cleator Moor, Moresby, Egremont, Frizington, Seascale, Gosforth, Bootle, St Bees, Ennerdale Bridge and the smaller villages in between.

Some residents have stopped using their tap water while others reported stomach problems.

Cheryl Corlett, of Kells, one of many people who contacted the News and Star , said: “I noticed a week ago the kettle popping when boiling but thought it might have been on its way out and I was just going to use it until it gave in.

“I only noticed the smell of the water on Saturday.

“I noticed, when making a cuppa, the water turns black in about two seconds as if the tea has been brewing for ages and what I would call bubbly scum in cups of tea as if the milk’s curdling or something.

“When I wash dishes they still have a funny smell on them. It’s weird. United Utilities said there’s no issues but it’s not normal so I’m not drinking anything using the tap water.”

United Utilities maintain that the water is not dangerous and will continue to use the current method until a new £300m pipeline from Thirlmere reservoir to west Cumbria, which is scheduled for 2022, is completed.

A spokesman for the company said: “We are aware of reports of a popping noise from kettles when being boiled and we would like to apologise to customers if this has caused concern.

“Blending water from different sources is absolutely safe to do and we have been blending these water supplies for a while.

“It’s all part of the short term aim to balance the amount of water we take from Ennerdale to protect local wildlife, while continuing to meet the demands of the local community.”

He added: “We did not anticipate that customers would notice the relatively small change in the hardness of the water.

“The most noticeable change seems to have been the noise made when boiling the kettle and, although this is a phenomenon we were aware of, we did not anticipate it would be so noticeable to our customers in this area.

“The popping noise can be explained by tiny bubbles forming and collapsing as the water boils and is due to the slightly harder water.”

Among the comments on Facebook was one from Cheryl Barwise who said: “Here in Gosforth, we noticed it’s been popping for the last few days. Ours is clear glass with a chrome bottom and it’s gone brown really fast.”

Alex Hardy said: “Mine has sounded like popcorn popping in it for the last few weeks.

“Hope it gets sorted because it sounds like its going to pop and blow up.”

The United Utilities spokesman added: “It is normal for kettles to make this noise when switched on. Hardness occurs naturally in the water supply.

“This can cause a film or scum on the water, furring up of kettle elements, noise from kettles and deposits in hot drinks.

“Hard water and its effects are harmless to health. However, you can buy water softeners and descalers in the high street.”

Watch a video of the poppping kettles at newsandstar.co.uk.